Spending the day in Bruges, Belgium

During our weekend in Brussels back in May, we were typical tourists and saw so much during our visit. From being dazzled by the beauty of Grand Place, enjoying beers & cocktails in Le Cercial. Not to mention visiting the Atomium and Mini-Europe in one day – queue the exhaustion! 

However, on the Sunday before our flight home, we decided to take the train to the City of Bruges {Brugges in Dutch}. As you do! I have never seen the movie In Bruges,{I know, I know!} but I know of the movie which is halfway there. My friend, who we were travelling with is a big fan and was so excited to see the Belfry of Bruges – which is from a famous scene in the movie. So I hear! 

During our time in Bruges, it rained from the heavens but that didn’t take a single thing away from its beauty. What a gorgeous city and it has a real fairytale/medieval feel to it, too.

We got on the train at Bruxelles Central direct to Bruges. The fare cost around €16 return, which I thought was pretty cheap and the journey took around 45mins to an hour. It was even on a double-decker train, which is something very different for us here in the UK. 

Once we arrived in Bruges, the Belfry of Bruges bells were ringing, which was cool. Then it was a 15mins walk along the main street until we reached the famous Town Square, where the Belfry loomed over us. 

From the cutest cobbled stone lanes to countless canals & bridges and photogenic market squares. Not leaving out the soaring church towers and historic architecture along with the endless lanes filled with gorgeous old whitewashed almshouses. It truly is a stunning place to see in person.

We were day-trippers to Bruges and even though, due to the rain, we missed out on going on the dreamy canal boat rides. We still managed to see a good portion of the City. However, to really see Bruges in all of its glory, a weekend there would be needed, for sure. 

With canals everywhere we turned, bridge after bridge, followed by the most beautiful buildings everywhere we looked. Bruges is certainly a place to add to your travel bucket list. Without a doubt.

We managed to see the cutest little market along the canal {I bought 2 pairs of earrings – they’re adorable!}. We eyed up some amazing taxidermy in pretty bell displays and pondered how we’d get them home. Think mice skulls and frog skeletons – all seriously cool. 

Being in Belgium, which, let’s face it – might as well be the land of chocolate! There are chocolate shops everywhere and Belgian chocolate is {in my opinion} the nicest chocolate in the world. So, if they want to have 5 chocolate shops in one street – I say, yes!

When I spied this shop along the main street in Bruges, it had to be appreciated for a moment because Chocolate does equal Happiness! 

We popped into a Haagen Daz Cafe on the main market square for a little shelter from the rain. However, as excited as I was that Haagen Daz cafes were an actual thing, the prices scared me a little.

It seems they like to charge a lot of money for the simplest of things and I have to admit, their waffles were not the nicest. Sorry, Haagen Daz! But the melted Belgian chocolate was everything and more.

If you want a nice Belgian waffle, check out my blog post about the Atomium. We bought the nicest {hand’s down} Belgian waffle from a little van near the attraction. It was easily the best €3 I have ever spent. 

After walking around Bruges for a few hours, we decided food was needed before starting our journey back to Brussels International for our flight home. We found this cute little Lebanese Restaurant and I don’t know about you, but Lebanese cuisine is new to me.

In fact, I have food fear – so I wasn’t even sure I was going to find something I liked! How wrong I was, though because they had a really great range of food available.

I went with a chicken pitta, which was really tasty and the perfect portion size for me. I may be a size 16 but I can’t pack away much food – a massive misconception with bigger people. But, if you ever find yourself in Bruges, do check out Amon Lebanese Cuisine – really nice staff, a lovely menu and a great price, too. 

On our walk back to the train station in Bruges, we couldn’t help be dazzled by the architecture. So many different shapes and designs. I mean, look at that roof – it looks like stairs! I am also living for that little door – isn’t it cute! 

Then one last turn back to wave goodbye to the Belfry – the building design in Bruges was so beautiful. It was a visual feast everywhere you looked. Without a doubt a City you should visit if you’ve never visited before. 

So there we go – our afternoon in Bruges! I bought chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate and I bet it doesn’t surprise you to know that it did not last long after I got home. In fact, my youngest is requesting to visit just to buy more, you guessed it – chocolate! 

Have you ever been to Brussels? Or perhaps it’s on your list!

While you’re here, you might like to check out what else we did during our weekend in Brussels! You can check out our afternoon at Mini-Europe and visiting all of Europe in one afternoon!